Hurricane Hilary trigger flash flood around Angeles, historic entry.
During reports of California flash flood throughout the peninsula, where some roads were washed away and pictures on social media showed roaring torrents rushing down city streets that had been transformed into rivers, one person died in Mexico.
In an area more accustomed to drought, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a state of emergency for much of Southern California, with flash flood warnings in effect until at least 3 AM on Monday.
As much rain as the deserts generally receive in a year might fall in mountain and desert areas, forecasts predicted.
The San Gabriel Mountains to the east of the city and coastal districts in Ventura County experienced significant flooding as a result of the first tropical storm to hit Los Angeles County since 1939.
A number of settlements in the mountains and valleys were asked to evacuate by San Bernardino County after social media photographs showed rivers of water, mud, rock, and trees.
Around 70 miles northeast of Los Angeles, in Wrightwood, California, the rain swept dirt and trees down a hill in Sheep Canyon. In Oak Glen, one of the five San Bernardino County municipalities that were ordered to evacuate, flowing floodwater flung rocks, mud, and trees into the air.
The National Weather Service issued a warning of potentially fatal floods in Ventura County, which is more populous and where up to 2 inches (5 cm) of rain fell in only two hours.
Spanish Hills
The weather service stated that there were automobiles trapped in the neighborhood of Spanish Hills, and firefighters there were performing swift water rescues.
On a tour of Southern California, Newsom noted that Palm Springs, a desert resort in Riverside County some 100 miles east of Los Angeles, had gotten “the most significant rainfall over a 60-minute period at any time in Palm Springs history” an hour after he had left on Sunday. The streets quickly became inundated.
That is how fast this system is operating. Take nothing for granted,” Newsom advised at a press conference in Los Angeles after updating US President Joe Biden, who had directed government agencies to send troops and supplies to the area.
In the adjoining hamlet of Rancho Mirage, where water and debris flowed across closed roads and left at least one pickup truck stranded with water nearly reaching the top of its bed, the storm astounded locals. Professional sporting events were rescheduled and hundreds of flights in San Diego, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles were canceled.
The Los Angeles River, which usually carries only a trickle, had floodwaters rushing through its concrete banks. Rock slides at Ocotillo, a desert community 90 miles east of San Diego, sent boulders to the ground on Interstate 8, causing delays on the road to Arizona.
Nearly 1,900 people were evacuated to shelters after Hurricane Hilary made landfall earlier on Sunday in the northern Baja California peninsula of Mexico, according to the nation’s army. Low-income regions with many dwellings that do not adhere to building rules were particularly perilous during the storm.
